


Who Killed Levy McGarden?

by lilnepp



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alcoholism, Disappearance, I'll add more characters and tags as they show up, Investigation, Murder, NOT GAJEEL/CANA, Other, THE '&' MEANS FRIENDSHIP, U DOINKS, abuse (mentioned), and make it a weird kind of 1800's au with some modern aspects, imagine all of law and order but just replace elliot and benson with gajeel and cana, like the skyrim sidestories. its good, lying, not focused on relationships - theyre more of a cool sideline, thats this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-27
Updated: 2016-05-01
Packaged: 2018-05-09 18:07:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5550227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilnepp/pseuds/lilnepp
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Upon moving into a new building complex, Baronet Gajeel Redfox quickly discovers a dark secret concealed by the freshly painted bricks and laid-down carpets...</p><p>Someone had been murdered in the complex, and he had moved right into the ghost's old quarters.</p><p>Now intrigued by the mysterious case of the ghost of Levy McGarden and obsessed with finding out who murdered her, Gajeel is bound to push his new neighbours slightly too far, and when he does, who can tell what will happen?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue - Levy's Letter

To whom it may concern,

I believe that one of my closest friends is trying to kill me. They act oddly suspicious and ask personal questions that I, of course, have no intention of answering. _'Have you ever been with a man?' 'Are you a virgin?' 'Do you have any living relatives? Are you living alone?' 'Have you ever thought about suicide?'_  All questions, no answers. I don't intend to become part of the rotary circle of gossip within the building. I'm quite content with being all alone with my personal library of an apartment quarter, and I'd like to keep it that way.

But that isn't the point I'm trying to make.

To whomever finds this letter I've managed to hide from them, along with this, you should have found a trinket box containing photographs of myself and friends and family along with some inherited jewellery, some books and a bouquet of hydrangeas (although I'm sure they will have wilted somewhat by the time you find them). Study these very carefully, for if I am right, and I'm quite certain I am, then these will play a rather large part in successfully solving this murder.

I've always read and enjoyed murder mystery novels and novellas, but never in my wildest dreams had I imagined I'd become one. Life -and death- truly works in mysterious ways.

  
For personal reasons, I cannot state the name(s) of this friend, for they are in such a position of power within the town that if they were wrongly accused and happened upon this letter, I would surely lose my life at their hands.

  
Please, search and research as much as you can. Ask people about me. Don't let my death be in vain, if it happens at all. Don't let me disappear without a second thought from anyone. Don't let them get away with such a heinous act.

Don't let them get away with murdering me.

 

From what I've learned, no one can be trusted, so do not put your faith in anyone other than yourself.

 

Yours in time,  
_Levy McGarden (The previous tenant of this apartment)_


	2. One - Moving In

"Now, Gajeel, it took Juvia an awful lot of convincing for you to be able to stay here. Juvia had to sign so many papers and waivers that she'd rather not count." The blue-haired woman sighed in reminiscence as she fiddled with a key before sliding it into the brass lock on the wooden white door.

"Not to mention, this particular quarters has been abandoned for some time, so Gajeel may find something wrong with it, Juvia's sure."

She pushed the stubborn door forward, the force of her shoulder aiding with the action. It creaked as it then swung open, revealing the room as Gajeel stared into it past Juvia's _big fat_ head.

"A-ah, it looks a lot better than Juvia had expected," She marvelled as they stepped into the main room. There was evidence of recent renovation, as the walls shone with the morning sunlight through the windows along the back wall, as well as the fumes of fresh paint and cleaning products lingering.

Gajeel eyed the room carefully, checking for any signs of rainwater leakage or pest infestations, but he came up short-handed.

Feeling somewhat satisfied, he took the key from Juvia's slightly opened hand and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you, Juvia."

She blinked at him slowly.

"Th-thank you?"

"Yeah, for all you do for me. Like loaning me money-"

"Which Gajeel spends on liquor."

"- letting me stay at your empty property-

"At which Juvia's expensive horses have mysteriously gone missing." She said with a dead-eyed look.

"- even coming over to make me dinner sometimes-"

"Gajeel would leave it in the pig's trough. And Juvia knows, because she would always see it when she came to check on the animals the next morning."

"- and so I really can't thank you enough, Juv. For helpin' get me back on my feet for, what, about two months now?"

"It's been nine months, Gajeel."

He grinned widely, releasing her shoulder from his grip. He noticed the hand-shaped dirt print he'd left on her dress's pale blue sleeve. That'd go over well with Gray later.

"Same difference."

Juvia looked defeated as she gave him another key with a ribbon tied through a hole in it. She put it in his palm, placing her own smaller hands around his.

"You do not lose this key." She told him seriously as she dropped her third-person act, looking into his eyes. "If you lose this key, I will kill you. This key is the master key. If you lose this, Lucy will kill me. Do you understand? _Do not lose this key_."

He nodded lamely, taking his hands back as he unclipped a key ring he had attached to his belt and slipped both new keys onto it. Juvia muttered a goodbye and gave him a hug, which grossed him out slightly, and left to find her own quarters in the building complex a few floors down.

The building was the first of its kind anywhere; it was about eight stories high and twelve years of construction had gone into it. They had finished building it about two years ago, but he had been told by Juvia that people were often reluctant to move in. Probably, he figured, because of the immense height of the building. If he could recall, they were called 'apartment blocks'.

He stood in the middle of the room, mentally mapping out where he would put his furniture when it was delivered later that day.

He swiped at some dust mites floating in front of him as he stepped forward so he was directly in front of a window. Staring out of it, he looked down at the industrial town below, the red brick of the buildings already stained somewhat from the intense rain season they'd had only earlier that year.

There was a park, where some children were running around with hoops and pulling along string toys, laughing and playing. A couple pushed a pram around as they strolled and an elderly man sat lonesome on a bench in front of a river.

He could see something, however, in the reflection of the window. It looked like a woman.

"I'm sorry, these quarters have been purcha-" He began as he turned quickly, but saw no one there. Gajeel turned back to the window, and the woman's reflection was gone.

He went to scope out the other rooms. Maybe she was hiding from him, or wanted to inquire about the property. He'd have to inform her (boast about) that he'd already bought the expensive apartment, and she'd probably have to go live in one of the workhouses if she was not of a respectable title.

Upon entering his kitchen, he caught sight of her once more through the open arched doorway, kneeling on the floor as if she were pulling at something. Gajeel walked towards her, ever so slowly, and as he approached he bent over and held out his hand to touch her, to alert her of his presence.

He blinked, and suddenly, the woman was gone. But to where?

Gajeel had just written it off as an illusion; the light playing tricks on him, or perhaps a result of his past two restless nights, in which he hadn't slept at all. It would make all the sense, and was the rational answer. And if Gajeel wasn't a rational man, then what was he?

He stared now at the empty space in front of him, and decided that later that day he would see a chemist for some sort of concoction to help him sleep easy.

A knock had come at the door, then, and Gajeel had come to the conclusion that he would see to it later as he stood up straightly to answer the door. As he had suspected, it was the removal company he had hired about two days before the move, and he paid extra for such a last-minute expedition (Over seven hours away from his previous residence, before he had been staying at Juvia's homestead).

They told him that their men were far too tired from the long drive to transport, and so were taking their pay and making off, calling it a day.

Which, for Gajeel, meant he'd have to lug it all up to his fourth-floor apartment all by himself.

<><><>

As he hauled his brand-new bed frame out of the elevator, he saw a woman (wearing much less than what was appropriate for a woman of her standing, he would later find out) fiddling with some cards outside of his apartment door.

"'S there a problem, ma'am?" He inquired, albeit annoyedly, as he dragged the metal frames along the ground. They make an awful screeching sound as they dragged.

"None that you'd be able to solve for me, that's for sure." She laughed obnoxiously, and like a flash, she had one card nipped between her fingers, the front of it facing Gajeel.

"Looks like you're in for a shit-storm." She remarked as she looked at him with half-lidded eyes. Her accent was thickly American, more so than his own, so she must have arrived from somewhere of that region. Her choice in language was also quite... questionable.

"Is that really appropriate language for a lady to be using?" He inquired, feeling the urge to drop the formalities as well. The vulgar nature of the woman was encouraging his own to come into play.

"Who cares about all that, honestly; if a fat man who smokes cigars and has less than ten years left to live can use that kind of language freely, why can't I?"

She raised a good point.

"Lady Cana Alberona." She introduced herself, holding out the hand that wasn't holding her cards. For a Lady to be standing in nothing but a more-than-slightly-revealing nightgown, without even any shoes on, he was mildly surprised.

"My residency is next to yours. If my hunch is right, you're quite a drinker, Sir Redfox." She winked at him. "In that case, I should think you and I will hit it off very well."

He nodded with a sense of respect and continued to haul his heavy metal bed frame through his front door, which he had left ajar. It scraped awfully along the floor, leaving marks over the recently polished floorboards.

"Lucy's gonna kill you for that." Cana remarked, laughing at something Gajeel would probably not understand.

"Who's Lucy?"

"You don't know who Lucy is? _God_ , she's the landlord. Owns the whole building, and several surrounding ones. Not of her own will, of course; she only cares for this one." Her voice dropped several levels of sound and tone then, leaning a little closer to Gajeel as he stared at her with confused eyes from his doorway.

"And she cares very deeply about it. Which is why you should get those-" She pointed to the clearly visible white marks on the mahogany floor. "- cleaned up before she comes to introduce herself."

The sense of respect he'd held about Cana before dropped slightly. How dare this woman, a half-naked woman he'd just met only minutes before, who reeked of whiskey and gin (If he were to be honest), tell him what to do?

Instead of retaliating (Which his informal side was just busting at the seams to do) he let it go. He had to suppress any notion or feeling that made him angry, or, at least, that's what his doctor had told him.

"You've got an odd aura around you." Cana continued, trying to converse. Gajeel ignored her attempts, finally getting the metal frame through the scratched door frame.

With a mighty swing of his arm, he tossed it in with the rest of his pulled apart furniture before closing the door, hoping to not have to make small talk with that woman again.

He could feel something brush past him, and in a moment of true spite, he was going to turn around and tell Lady Alberona to blatantly fuck off, but was slightly annoyed when he saw that no one was there.

He spent the rest of the afternoon and evening putting together and placing the furniture himself and didn't finish until late, when another knock on the door had arrived.

Hesitantly and with a tired limp, he hauled himself over to the door, inhaling as if to keep calm before the oncoming storm of visitors.

The first person was a small woman with vibrant purple hair, who offered her services with woodworking if he ever needed it, and introduced herself as Laki. She left him with a wooden cutting board - 'I made it myself,' - and a few hand-carved bowls. He wasn't sure how he felt towards her; she and her mannerisms were quite odd, perhaps even questionable. All-in-all, she was weird.

The second person was a man, perhaps slightly older than Gajeel, named Loke. Gajeel was definitely persuaded that it was no coincidence the two visitors had similar names, and tried to remember between the two. Loke gave Gajeel a vial of some sort, claiming it to be real star dust or something of the name. Gajeel could tell from Loke's outstanding amount of charisma and his natural knack for theatrics that he was a con man.

His third visitor was Juvia, with a steaming hot blueberry pie, and in tow was her partner Gray. Gray hadn't taken much of a liking to Gajeel when he had been staying in Juvia's homestead, but for Juvia's sake, let it go. He only raised eyebrows to Gajeel and hadn't said a single word to him to date. Juvia left him with the pie and explained to him about the dining hall on the bottom floor, and that it was so much fun living in the building with so many other people!

His fourth and final visitor was a blonde woman, about a head-and-a-half shorter than him, wearing an elegant pink dress and had her hair done neatly in an intricate bun. She had a belt with a metal ring of many keys on her hips.

She introduced herself as Lady Lucy Heartfilia, the landlord of the overall complex and several surrounding estates, just like Lady Alberona had said.

"We're glad to have you here, Sir Redfox." She beamed at him, shaking his hand softly.

"There are a few rules we have in this building, of which I can get a copy of for you should the need arise. I brought one with me just in case, as I hadn't really trusted Juvia to explain fully what living here is like. She's quite forgetful, I find." Lucy laughed lightly, producing a book that was held lazily together by some string. On the first few pages, Gajeel found, were some forms and waivers.

One of them mentioned 'Not reporting any moaning or groaning sounds to the building's landlord or the local authorities'. Inwardly, he was quite amused to be able to learn just how often these 'moaning and groaning' sounds really occurred.

"Of course, any floor above the seventh is off-limits, as the attic and my own quarters are on those two floors. The basement is also off-limits, as it's the staff's residential area. I hope that you accept and respect these two very important rules."

Ten or so minutes later, Gajeel had signed every slip of paper without a second thought, ripping out the contracts and handing them to Lucy, who folded them neatly and kept them in her hands.

"There is also a dining hall on the ground level, and you're welcome to attend at any time. Something is always ready to be eaten. There's also a cafe on the other end of the hall, and an event room on the second floor. We also have rules about knocking on doors past eleven unless it's an emergency, but those are usually in place for Wendy and Romeo, some younger residents who are living here. They have a tendency to act up sometimes, but on the most part cause hardly any trouble."

"I didn't think children would be living here, what with the apparent 'moaning and groaning' that you've made out to be a frequent occurrence, Lady Heartfilia."

"W-well," She blushed furiously, eyes darting around in embarrassment. "Y-you can't exactly... hear it from... well, it's - it's complicated, okay? If you hear noises of that calibre then I ask that do not report it. Several years ago, some tenants on the third floor were, well... you know... and it was reported. The authorities arrived and a big uproar was caused. It continued to happen for a while afterward, so the whole building unanimously agreed to the rule. I suppose, living next to Cana, you'll gain plenty of experience within that topic." Lucy elaborated.

"What if someone's being murdered?" Gajeel joked, a hearty chuckle coming from within. But Lucy didn't find it so funny.

"I think you'll find," She began as her face deadpanned. She ran a finger over the table that was in front of her as she walked towards the door of the room, focusing on the dust that came off onto her finger. "That things like that do not happen around here. This building is extremely safe and occupant-friendly, thank you very much." Lucy finished with a bittersweet smile, which got on Gajeel's nerves somewhat.

She bid her farewell and wished that he had an enjoyable time during his long-term stay at Fairy Tail Apartments, and he returned the gesture in a less-formal manner.

After she was gone with the paperwork and such, he noticed that he'd still had the booklet in his hands, and decided that some late-night reading would be in order, whether he liked it or not. It would be quite helpful to read through the rules properly, even if he didn't fully intend on abiding by them.

He sat on one of the new upholstered chairs he'd had to assemble as he began on page one. While he wasn't the strongest of readers, he could probably get a fair-good six or seven pages in. He drifted off before he could even turn the page, fatigued by the labor from earlier that day.

<><><>

The dining hall on the ground level was something extravagant to Gajeel. After a lifetime of slumming-it, some marble pillars and clean tiles, he figured, were well-in-order. Don't even get him started on the brass chandelier hanging in from the domed ceiling, or the glass tables accompanied by white wicker chairs.

The building, it seemed, was actually far larger than it looked from the outside. Granted, many of the buildings in the city were quite large, and this one definitely paled in comparison, but the interiors could really give the others a run for their money.

There was a self-serving station at the rear of the hall, and there were some people milling about, some that Gajeel had met and others that he didn't feel like talking to. Although he enjoyed waking at sparrow's every morning, it would take several hours for him to even think about speaking to another person.

When his new favourite person decided to join him for breakfast, you can imagine he was less than thrilled.

"Redfox!" Lady Alberona's voice practically shone with energy and sarcasm.

It irritated him.

"Would you mind if I joined you for breakfast?"

"Yes." He grumbled back, clearly not happy with the idea. "And it's _Baronet Redfox_ to you."

"Wonderful!" She clapped, picking up a tray to walk alongside him while he put breakfast foods on his plate.

"So, do you live on your own? No Lady Redfox...?"

"No, and I intend on keeping it that way. And what about you? It's not seen as 'common' for a woman to live alone." He pushed, eager to irritate her enough to get her to leave.

"The last person to live in your apartment was a woman living alone." Cana pointed out, picking up some bread rolls and a glass of wine (Really? Wine in the morning?). Gajeel noticed that there was tags around the necks of the bottles that read 'Lady Alberona - Morning' and figured she was either taking some heavy prescriptions, or she was just an alcoholic. There were at least seven full bottles there.

"Besides, I don't live alone. I'm courting someone." She bit back, deciding to put several more bottles onto the tray.

"You? Really? Hard to believe." He scoffed, scooping some hot scrambled eggs onto a slice of toast he'd picked up earlier. The selection of food was almost too wide. He and Cana had been about ten minutes into joining the queue (Of which wasn't really even a queue at all; more of a small and spread out line), and he had seriously underestimated the serving-stations, since they stretched out all around the room. At one point he had considered just leaving with what he had and sitting at a table to ditch Lady Alberona.

But when he moved out of the line, slightly satisfied with his plate, Cana followed. He figured it was a fruitless attempt.

"Stop following me." He grumbled bluntly as she sat across from him. He picked a table towards the middle of the room, right under the chandelier. "Or people might begin to think things that I know I don't want being spread around."

"Don't worry," Cana reassured, popping the cork of the top of the wine bottle. No doubt she was a seasoned drinker; she did it so fast that Gajeel was convinced if he wasn't watching he certainly would have missed it.

"Everyone in town knows me, and they all know I'm with Bacchus. It's fine. No one would dare mess with Magnolia's biggest drinker, anyway." She waved him off, downing half of the bottle in one hearty swig. She would've made a good pirate.

"Biggest drinker? You? What a laugh!"

Gajeel looked up from his plate to find a pale-skinned man with black hair with his hand on Cana's shoulder, leaning his head down as if for a kiss on the cheek. She playfully pushed him away, taking another swig from the bottle. "It's too early for this, Bacchus."

"Not early enough for a drink though, eh, doll?"

"It's never too early for a drink. I'm always intoxicated. Besides, you can't talk; you drink almost as much as I do."

Gajeel was primarily disgusted at the affection being shared between the two right in front of him. He hadn't even begun eating his breakfast and he was already about to regurgitate it. The smell of booze was lingering now, too, which put him off eating entirely. He figured that Juvia could direct him to the nearest eatery, or he could go for a stroll and find out for himself. If he was being completely honest, anything was better than sitting in front of these two monsters with no regard for the general public.

He wasn't even mildly surprised that the man had stolen Gajeel's seat as soon as he stood. In fact, he was kind of glad that that man had taken his seat and taken Lady Alberona off of his hands. What an awful woman, inviting herself to sit with him for breakfast. They hardly even knew each other, and all of their interactions so far had been positively negative.

Before he even knew it, Gajeel was in the elevator on the way to the fourth floor. He was so immersed in mentally bashing Lady Alberona that he had actually far missed the fourth floor, and was fast approaching the seventh. It opened at the sixth, and a woman in a yellow dress with vibrant blue unruly hair had gotten in and stood next to him.

Of course, not forgetting his manners, he moved aside and held the door open for her while she entered, looking at the ground.

"What floor, ma'am?" He asked, fingers at the ready in front of the recently repainted buttons. The elevator closed and moved upwards.

"Ma'am?" Gajeel asked again, getting slightly impatient. Could she hear him? Was she deaf?

"Excuse me, m'lady," He grumbled impatiently, hands now at his sides. He tapped her shoulder and when she turned around, he stared into her eyes and the colour faded from his face.

Something, something about those hazel eyes was screaming silently at him, even though she herself remained silent. He had never seen eyes with such fear before, such terror; his body, without his command sent him flying back into the wall.

Gajeel, the man with a heart of black steel, had been - simply put - terrified. He panicked as he fell to the floor and held a hand over his eyes, some distressed noises coming from his throat.

Now Gajeel had only been truly terrified several times in his life, and he didn't often admit them.  
Once, his foster father Metallicana had left him alone on his large farm for several minutes while he closed a deal about some steel beams with a representative from the hardware store about a three hour's walk away. Gajeel was about five at the time, and five year olds, he figured, are not creatures to be left alone at sundown on a wide expanse of field and trees with all sorts of wild animals milling about. The first owl hoot had set him off, and he'd gone running for the hills - figuratively, of course. He'd run back to their homestead and waited several more hours for Metallicana to show back up. Metallicana had been looking for Gajeel for the hours he'd spent away from their arranged meeting spot.  
From that day forward, he'd promised himself that he wouldn't get scared of simple things like owls or such ever again.

For a man that had learned to brave his fears from such a young age, who hadn't really been 'shaken' by much in his life, you can imagine the absolute fright that would have had to come across for him to throw himself across the room and sink to the floor.

He removed his hands from his eyes and stared at the empty space in front of him as the doors opened.

"Sir Redfox?" A familiar bubbly voice asked, holding her hand out.

"Are you okay? You look as though you've seen a ghost," Lucy chuckled nervously as he declined her hand and stood up himself.

"I think I just did," He said in what was almost wonder. Lucy stared at him before fiddling with her fingers.

"You shouldn't be up on this level, though." She said warily. "There's actually a key that has to be inserted for these two levels to even be available from the normal elevators. Although, I've heard some things from Lady Fullbuster, and I sincerely hope you aren't acting in kind as you used to," She chuckled nervously as the elevator begun to travel downwards. He ignored her further attempts at idle chat, responding with grunts when he felt it was necessary.

The elevator stopped at his level and he hurriedly stepped out, almost stomping his way to his door. He jammed the key in quickly and twisted, pushing the door.

As soon as he was in his apartment, he cursed loudly and took some deep breaths. How had he allowed himself to be scared by some woman in an elevator? She was a woman, for God's sake! Not even a tall one. She was tiny. At most five-foot-four.

But the way she looked at him... like she had some dark secret that she wanted to tell him about, but her mouth was sewn shut. It was eerie, to Gajeel, too; almost like she wasn't real.

Maybe Lady Heartfilia was right when she asked if he'd seen a ghost.

He'd only been living in the building for under twenty four hours and he already wanted to move out again. Perhaps Juvia would let him back into the homestead, as long as he promised to stop selling the animals when she wasn't there and to actually eat the food she made for him (No matter how bad it tasted; the woman wasn't much for a chef).

Something was definitely going on, and filled with a fluctuating sense of determination, Gajeel figured it wouldn't be a total time-waster to investigate what.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter done!! 
> 
> It was a little lacking towards the end, I know - but I really didn't want to rush his and Cana's eventual friendship (spoiler? I guess not). I've never been good with pacing, hah. 
> 
> Comments and kudos are always appreciated c:


	3. Two - Lady Scarlet, the Odd Lunch and the Tarot Reading

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's about time Gajeel started asking about the mysterious blue girl he met in the elevator, isn't it?

Gajeel's knuckles rapped lightly at the dark wooden door, awaiting for someone to open it. He was greeted by a red haired woman, who stared (rather rudely, actually) at the piercings along his barely-there eyebrows. Juvia once said that they helped give what kind of expression he was trying to convey, since with his lack of eyebrows, no one had any clue. The inconveniences of having a resting grumpy-face.

"How may I help you, Sir...?" The woman spoke, face a little tired. He understood all too well; it was the face of a woman plagued with insomnia. Or someone who had simply stayed up all night. Either way, Gajeel thought she could use forty winks or so.

"Baronet Gajeel Redfox, ma'am." He introduced, holding out one of his hands, which she shook firmly.

"Lady Erza Scarlet. I've heard some things about you from Cana."

_Wonderful._

"Well, I'm sure we can speak another time about these things  _Cana_ has said about me. In the meantime however, I'm looking for a woman with blue hair. I often see her around the building, and I was wondering if perhaps you could tell me where I could find her." He explained, memories of the day previous in the elevator flashing through his mind with great haste.

"Ah," Lady Scarlet gasped, clasping her hands together. "Lady Juvia Fullbuster, floor two. She has some decorative blue mural painted on her door. I believe it has something to do with water. She also has blue hair, so I believe she is the one you are looking for." She finished, closing the door slowly in his face. Gajeel stuck his foot in the gap between the door and the frame, which seemed to annoy her slightly.

"No, I know Lady Fullbuster. I'm talking about another girl. Vivid blue hair, big hazel eyes, about yay high-" He motioned two heads shorter than him with one of his hands as he described her. "- and she often wears yellow."

Erza's dark-violet eyes widened momentarily in alarm before retaining her composure.

"You could only be talking about Lady Levy McGarden," She said slowly but cautiously, as if the name would sting him. "But she moved out years ago. In fact, I believe you moved into her apartment."

Something isn't right here. Something is definitely going on.

"I suppose you could ask Lady Heartfilia about her details, if you want to go see her, but I was told that she had moved into the deep country, which is about a ten hours' drive from our current standing. I cannot fathom any reason she would come back, unless it was to see some old friends, but in that case we all would know about it; we're quite tight-knit here. I haven't seen her in two years, I'm sorry."

"Thank you for your time, anyway. Pleasure to meet you."

"You too, Sir Redfox. I hope our paths cross once more."

Erza shut the door then, and Gajeel turned on his heel, taking in the information.

_'She had moved into the deep country, which is about a ten hours' drive from our current standing. I cannot fathom any reason she would come back,'_

It seemed to Gajeel as if he had caught the tail of something mysterious indeed. If this 'Levy McGarden' woman didn't live here anymore, and did in fact live ten hours away, why did he keep seeing her around the building at odd times?

This was all if the woman in mind was in fact Lady McGarden.

If it wasn't for Erza's little revelation, perhaps he would have given up entirely on the little time-filling activity, since no one else could give him a worthwhile answer or didn't know the mysterious blue-haired woman at all. A whole new light had been shed on the situation, however, and it was only necessary to keep going. At least until he found a job.

Until then, he was sure that Juvia wouldn't mind paying for him as she had been doing the previous year.

<><><>

The wheels of the carriage clacked against the cobblestone pathways, which resulted in constant jumping and bumping around the inside of the vehicle. The coachman was evidently not doing a very good job at turning corners, either; Gajeel was pretty sure that Juvia almost went flying out of the open window at one point. Gray wouldn't have been very happy about it.

"So, Gajeel-" Juvia's voice shook as they turned another corner, and she grabbed onto a steel pole on the other side of the carriage almost instinctively. "What was it you wanted to speak to Juvia about?"

"Why hadn't anyone moved into the apartment before me?" He said bluntly. He wasn't a beat-around-the-bush kind of person, and often got straight to the point of things. When something had his utmost attention, Gajeel wanted to know everything about it so he could then lock it away and never think about it again. Which now included this 'Lady McGarden' woman. The sooner he figured out why he was seeing her everywhere, the better.

Juvia paused, a dark look taking over her features before she was back to that signature smile of hers.

"Juvia doesn't know what you're talking about, so Gajeel will have to elaborate." She smiled, eyes squinting shut as they passed over some particularly rough cobblestone patches, sending the two passengers a few inches into the air every few seconds.

"Who lived in that apartment before you had me moved in?" He repeated, dumbing it down a little for her. He couldn't help it, she was a tad dim sometimes.

"No one for several years, as far as Juvia knows."

"What about before no one lived there? Someone had to have inhabited it."

_Just say it, Juvia. I know you know about her._

Juvia was avoiding his gaze, staring out of the window as she pushed the curtains apart, which let some natural light into the dark carriage. She sighed heavily, as if she was sick of being asked questions (Which she probably was; Gajeel had a tendency to push too far often) and waved him off.

"Why does Gajeel care? That was over two years ago. Unless there is something wrong with the apartment, the previous tenant shouldn't matter."

_Really, Juvia? Nothing?_

"I just want to know, Juv. Tell me."

She ignored him, instead pointing to some cattle that were being herded down the street. She muttered something like _'How unusual, they only do this on Sundays, but it's a Wednesday.'_ and didn't look at him again until the ride was over. Gajeel was thankful for the end of the experience, and decided he would rather walk home than run over all of those rough stones again. It wasn't one of the most uncomfortable situations he'd ever been in, but he definitely wouldn't put himself through it again.

He stepped out first before taking Juvia's hand and helping her down the small flight of stairs that protruded from underneath the carriage, and once she was safely down, handed a few jewels to the coachman, who seemed grateful for the extra tip and sped off down the road. He was probably eager to pick up more customers and drive them through cobblestone hell.

"The diner is this way. They have excellent finger foods, and lots of small sweets, which Juvia is sure Gajeel would like." She pointed down the street, taking her fan out from her purse.

"What a shame," Gajeel remarked, walking alongside her. He had to slow down somewhat so they travelled at the same pace. "I lost my sweet tooth long ago."

When they reached the diner, a large pale-pink building with many open windows, Gajeel could tell people were surprised that Juvia wasn't walking in with Sir Fullbuster. Which also insinuated that the pair had to have been quite well-known. He expected that was because of Gray's popular funeral parlour business, as he'd been told some time ago that it was quite famous around the area. No doubt that was where Gray was at this very moment, designing some caskets or arranging flowers or whatever other sadistic thing he did for a living.

That seemed a little boring, to Gajeel. Being constantly surround by dead people and death beds.

"Ah, Juvia!" A waitor greeted as she stepped inside, and the two embraced in a friendly hug.

"Kinana! Just a table for two, please." Juvia instructed as the purple-haired woman led the two of them to a table in the very back of the building, with a big scenic window right beside them. It overlooked Magnolia river, which looked colourful and stunning, thanks to all the plants and flowers in the gardens around it that were in bloom due to the rich Spring they were in the middle of.

"No Sir Fullbuster today, ma'am?" Kinana inquired, handing the two of them a menu written neatly on parchment paper.

"Gray is at work," Juvia pouted, reading over the menu.

"And who might this be?" She asked, motioning to Gajeel. He took her hand and kissed the top of it, and then wanted to immediately wipe his mouth on a napkin. He hated chivalry.

"This is one of Juvia's good friends, Baronet Gajeel Redfox." Juvia introduced for him, probably sensing the mild distaste that was radiating from him.

"A pleasure to meet you, Madam...?"

Kinana furrowed her brows as she processed his sentence before having a lightbulb moment. "Oh, no, goodness. It's just 'Kinana'. I come from the workhouse at the other end of town."

"She's almost finished her time there, so we're hoping that soon she'll be moving into our building," Juvia gossiped excitedly before pointing to something from the menu she wanted. She obviously ordered for Gajeel, as well, because Kinana left immediately after, having written something on a small notepad she had.

"You know I don't care for gossip, Juvia," Gajeel sighed, taking a look at the salt and pepper shakers that were sitting in the middle of the table. "I'm just here for a free feed."

Juvia, having calmed down from her excitement, stared once more out of the window. "As you always have been, Gajeel."

The pair were able to keep a conversation going (Mostly one-sided on Juvia's parts, but Gajeel made sure to get the occasional grunt or agreeable noise in every now and then so she wouldn't scold him for not listening) for the next twenty or so minutes while they waited for the food. The place was full of people for a lunchtime meal, so he figured it had to be even more packed full for nighttime reservations. If the food was as good as Juvia claimed.

"... so Juvia said _'No, the white carnations match the old man's suit'_ , but Gray continued to fight her on it, saying that the yellow roses were better. He has no eye for colour coordination, Juvia's afraid."

Kinana was back, balancing some plates expertly along her forearms and hands. She set the plates on the table in front of the person who ordered (Or, in Gajeel's case, was ordered for) and wished them a good meal. She then left, leaving the two alone once again. He was slightly satisfied to see that Juvia had ordered a large steak with steamed vegetables for him, but knew that she would be less than pleased to see him enjoy it; it was one of the four rotational meals she would cook for him, but the slab of meat was always undercooked, rendering it inedible.

"Gajeel shouldn't meddle," Juvia mumbled, just out of his hearing, as she forked a cut piece of smoked salmon into her mouth.

"Pardon?"

"Juvia said, _'Gray has pedals'_. For the coffins. He says it helps with loading them into carts and leaving them open for display during the funerals. Technology is advancing quite rapidly these days. Juvia can hardly keep up with the technology we have now!" She laughed, focusing with hungry eyes on the meal in front of her.

_That's funny, 'cause for a second there, Juvia..._

_I really thought you had said something else._

<><><>

It was around dusk that Gajeel had returned to his apartment, tiredly jamming the brass key into it's respective lock. Cana was seated in the corner of the hall, just outside her door, a bottle in one hand and an unlit cigarette in the other. That girl was on a fast-track to death. Maybe Gray would plan her funeral around alcohol; she'd probably appreciate it.

"Where did you go, today? I was a little bummed to not be able to eat lunch or dinner with my favourite new neighbour."

He really wasn't up to dealing with Lady Alberona and her drunken (Perhaps not-so-drunken?) antics, so he promptly decided to ignore her until she left him alone.

"Something's troubling you," She remarked, and he looked over at her, ready to give her a glare that would turn her to stone. Instead, he saw a card between her fingers in the place where the cigarette was, which was now laying in her lap, some of the residue sticking to her dress. He also noticed that she was fully dressed today, and looked quite serious. Forget having her own funeral; maybe she went to one.

"I can see; besides being a seasoned alcoholic and annoying the shit out of my neighbours, I'm pretty good at this spiritual thing. And I can tell pretty damn well that you're on edge. It's not a gang or anything like that, though." She closed her eyes as Gajeel watched her in silent curiosity.

_Whatever you say, Cana._

"It's... something a lot deeper. It's not artificial. You don't know something that others do, and it's affecting you somehow." She opened her eyes, staring at him. "That about right?"

Should he just tell her? He'd probably get the same futile answer - _I didn't live here, I didn't know her, sorry_ or _She moved_. What was the point in asking, honestly?

"It's a girl."

Maybe Cana wasn't as shabby as he expected from a drunkard.

Bacchus came in from the elevator as the iron sliding guard moved forcibly. He forced it back into place before kicking at it, then proceeded walking towards them. He was clearly in a mood, and Cana handed him the cigarette as he snatched it and slammed the door, cursing loudly as he went. It was slightly amusing to Gajeel; Bacchus seemed like someone who was always calm or collected while retaining that vulgar nature.

"He smokes when he gets frustrated or stressed out," Cana said distantly, staring off in front of her. "If there's no cigarettes, he gets a little handsy, so I make sure to keep them on hand now. Not that I can't hold my own against him - I just hate seeing him acting so childish." She glanced at Gajeel, who was fully facing her now, arms crossed and a studious expression on his face.

_Oh._

"You do tarot, and all that spiritual shit?" He questioned. Cana, in truth and apart from Juvia, had so far been the nicest to him - maybe he could ask her, and even if she didn't know, what did he have to lose?

"I've been known to dabble."

_Huh._

"I could give you a reading, if you want. On the house. Discounted, just for you, new neighbour."

"Now?"

"Yeah, if you want. I don't wanna be around when Bacchus starts throwin' lamps and shit. He's drunk _too_ much today." She chuckled emptily.

She stood from her chair in the corner of the hall, in front of the stained-glass window, and made her way over to Gajeel's door, where he finally pushed the door open, and the two walked inside.

<><><>

Once Cana had set up her cards in the centre of his living room (And took one of Gajeel's iron round tables and set it in the middle of the room), she asked him to light some candles and pull the curtains. Once the room was in almost total darkness, he sat across from her. She was definitely missing that bright spark he'd seen in her the last two days.

"I might prefer to work in the dark, but this place was so much brighter when Levy lived here. Didn't have any of this black leather furniture or anything. And what's with all the metal? You runnin' a scrap yard or something in here? Would it kill you to let a little colour into your life-"

"What?"

She looked at him in confusion. "Gajeel, there's no colour in here. It's all, like, seven shades of black with the occasional maroon. Buy some flowers or something."

"No, before that."

"The scrap yard thing? Redfox, this room alone could easily pass for that."

"Before that." She was quickly grinding on his nerves, and after listening to Juvia talk for hours on end, he really wasn't in the mood to be toyed with. If he had it his way, people would just know what he was trying to talk about before he even spoke a word.

"Oh, about Levy? Lady McGarden, but she told everyone to just call her 'Levy'. She used to live in this apartment about two years before you moved in. No idea why, but Lucy wouldn't let anyone in after Levy moved out. You'd think someone died in here or something," She laughed, her positive attitude garnering again. She eyed her cards expectantly, locking her fingers together impatiently. "So, shall we begin?"

"What do you know about Lady McGarden?" He pushed, and was suddenly grateful for Cana's bringing her up. So far, it seemed like the woman would be a waterfall of information. Cana also looked like someone who liked conversation, and with Gajeel's cause, she might actually be worth listening to.

"Why are you asking?" She retaliated, slumping in her seat a little bit. She could sense that it was going to be a long while before Gajeel felt up to actually continuing with the reading. Cana shuffled her cards anyway.

"I think I've been seeing her around the building." He put simply, also leaning back in his seat.

"Impossible. She moved. She wouldn't just come back without telling us." Cana explained, spreading her cards out and then putting them all back into her hand. Her motions were quick and fast, and her thin but long hands easily held the whole deck in one hand.

"Did you see her before she moved?" Gajeel said, eyes to the ceiling. He could almost hear the gears whirring inside her brain.

"Yeah, the day before. We were pretty close friends because of the whole 'neighbour' thing - don't expect me to be like that with you, though."

"Did you know she was moving?"

Cana opened her mouth to say something - probably to defend Levy - when her eyebrows furrowed in confusion and deep thought. After a few moments, she spoke in a cautious tone.

"No..." Cana paused. "Lucy came to me the next morning and let me know. Didn't believe her until I saw the removalists come and wipe her apartment clean. I was only disappointed she didn't let me know, because we'd planned to have lunch together that day. She was supposed to invite two of her friends, Jet and Droy. This was before I met Bacchus, so she told me she was gonna try to set me up with one of the dithering idiots."

She remained silent.

"That's not like her though. At all, actually. Come to think of it, Levy was being real wary and cautious a few days prior to it. Like someone was gonna drop a piano on her something."

"Isn't that a little suspicious?" Gajeel could feel this thing beginning to unravel, as if he'd just pulled the ribbon on a wrapped gift. If Levy was someone who would have made the fact she was moving known, wasn't it a tad odd that no one knew? Perhaps visiting Lady Heartfilia, to get Levy's new address and details like Erza had suggested, was something he'd have to put on his mental checklist.

"What are you implying?" Cana shuffled through the cards once more, keeping her gaze on Gajeel's face. Her expression revealed one of uncertainty, of misconception; as though she'd been deceived.

"Well, I know that she can't be here if she moved far away. From what I've gathered, she's someone who would let you know that she was moving. Don't you think that it's a little suspicious that she just dropped off the face of the Earth without a second thought?"

"Better make your point quick, Redfox. I don't know if I want to give you a reading anymore."

"I keep seeing her everywhere."

"So? Congratulations. Do you even know what she looks like?"

Her sarcasm was really starting to grind his gears. "If you have a photo, I would be more than glad to verify."

Cana huffed frustratedly.

"Wait here. And open your goddamn curtains; it wouldn't surprise me if this place has never seen the light of day." She teased, closing the front door behind her. He grumbled something about Cana specifically telling him to pull them in and let them enclose the room in darkness, but continued to follow her orders anyway.

He blew out the candles and moved his curtains back before opening the windows to let some air in. Cana had pulled the candles out of somewhere (It was beyond him), and they smelt of honey. The smell, so prevalent now, was making him feel sickly.

  
The door opened quicky and furiously, and Cana stomped in, photographs in hand.

"Here. These are some we took at a garden party the building throws once a year. She's the small one in the green dress, sitting in the white garden chair." Cana pointed before shuffling through the rest of the photographs in her hand. Gajeel took the photo and studied it carefully.

There were many people in the photo he'd recognised, people that he'd spoken to during the day or seen around the building. She was sitting, as Cana had said, in a white garden chair, teacup in one hand, a spoon in the other and an open book in her lap. The girl looked as if she was laughing during the ten-second exposure, and he noticed that a numerous amount of others were laughing as well.

One thing he'd noticed was one  _Lady Fullbuster_ sitting on the opposite side of Levy, even a hand on her shoulder. He felt inwardly disappointed in Juvia for lying to him, especially since that was so out of character for her. But why would she lie to him about something so measly, so harmless? 

Unless harm was being done in knowing.

"Look, see this smudge over here? That's Sir Macao Conbolt. Lord Dragneel - he's courting Lucy - was taking the photo and made some joke before he started taking the photos. That's why everyone's laughing. But Macao, goodness; he was keeling over with laughter during the whole thing. Couldn't keep still to save his life. He's just a smudge now."

Gajeel looked to Cana for a moment, who appeared to be reminiscing. There was a happy look in her eye, one that was content.

"Here are some more. In this one -" She passed him a photo that was being taken in the hall on the bottom level, a place he recognised. There were four people at the table and it appeared to be night. Everyone had a bowl of spaghetti. "A stray dog had gotten into the kitchen, and nothing was spared except for the spaghetti, some bolognaise sauce and some spices. They had to serve over one hundred bowls of spaghetti, because we were also holding a ball that night and outsiders were coming in to join. Here's your girl."

Cana pointed to the girl sitting closest to the camera. She was wearing red glasses this time, another book in her lap. She was about to put some spaghetti in her mouth. The girl was also wearing some formal attire, a low-cut pale-blue dress. A boy with ginger hair had his arm around her neck, smiling as widely as he could for the camera. Cana was sitting on the other side of the table, one hand supporting her head and her other hand on the neck of a half-empty wine bottle. Cana would probably say it was half full. She looked more intoxicated than he'd ever seen her.

"Here we go, one of my favourites. Natsu is quite the photographer, I'll give him that. I'll be damned if he's ever taken a bad photograph."

Cana handed Gajeel another photo while she shuffled through the remainder of them, leaving him to look through the three photographs.

In the final photograph, it was just a picture of Levy near the Magnolia river. She was holding a picnic basket and was trying, but failing, to hold her bangs out of her face. She was missing her headband that he'd noticed she'd worn in the other photos, and an orchid was in her hair instead. She was standing on a hill under a great big cherry blossom tree, which seemed to be dropping cherry blossoms everywhere.

"You have a picture of just her? I thought you were weird, Cana, but this is another barrel of fish."

"I picked that up the day she left. It was on the elevator floor, and I knew it'd get trampled. She must've left it behind or dropped it when she was leaving."

Gajeel paused for a moment. What he was thinking wasn't too far a stretch, he thought, and from what he knew of Levy, it seemed more realistic. It wasn't too nice a thought to think about, and would definitely require more investigation, which he dreaded. However, he needed to get the suggestion out of his system, even if it wasn't something Cana probably wanted to hear from someone she'd known for two days.

"I don't think she left, Cana."

Cana looked at him in confusion, setting her cards on the table in front of her as she leaned forward and on her arms.

"I think she might be dead."

<><><>

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some good news - I've been getting really into writing this story! It's only planned to be twelve chapters long, so I guess it must be slightly rushed for the sake of fitting everything in. Thank you for reading if you've made it this far, and please leave a kudos and a comment! I love talking about my stories with interested folk c:


	4. Three - What's Under the Floorboards?

"Dead?" Cana asked, utter disbelief hinted heavily in her tone. She sat back in the seat she was in before and reshuffled her cards once again, a tad more anxiously this time.

 

"If you think about it-"

 

"No. Shut the hell up."

 

Gajeel glared at Cana, a tad shocked at the way she was speaking to him.

 

"Well, what do you want me to-"

 

"I _said,_ " She pointed a card at him and it flew out of her hand, barely grazing his neck before lodging itself neatly in his newly painted wall. He stared in remote awe at the card as he turned in his seat, and quickly figured that Cana wasn't someone to be messed with when sober. Probably not when drunk, either.

 

" _Shut the hell up._ "

 

The two locked eyes and exchanged dangerous glares and silence had engulfed them for several minutes.

 

" _Holy shit._ " She spoke afterwards, staring at the rounded table and the rest of her cards that were set on it. Cana fiddled with her fingers on the tabletop, allowing a moment to open for Gajeel to elaborate.

 

"So she definitely would have told you?" He prodded slowly, knowing that, even if he was wrong, this was something she would need a few moments to take in. Cana nodded lamely, boring a hole into the table with her now-empty gaze.

 

"She didn't say _anything_ about 'leaving' before she left?"

 

Cana shook her head, her long hair moving with her.

 

"Obviously, I don't know Lady McGarden-"

 

"Just call her Levy. Everyone else did."

 

"-so I really have no right to suggest such an outrageous idea, but... it wouldn't be the first time I've seen something like this."

 

_Of course, it had happened to my mother._

"Gajeel," Cana began, finally looking up at him. Her eyes were bloodshot and red, as if tears were stinging her eyes, begging to pour over but she would not let them. Levy must have meant a lot to her, then, because Cana seemed like a broken woman. Unbeknownst to Gajeel, Cana didn't fully believe him, as it was such a randomised thought that it surely could not be real, but there was something in her head that didn't add up properly, as though she'd forgotten something. Her head felt like it was aching just thinking about the idea, and it made her stomach turn inwards.

 

Who would kill Levy McGarden? She was such a sweet and nice girl who kept to herself and never caused trouble for anyone – ever. What could compel someone to commit such a cruel act against someone so selfless and harmless? She'd never had any enemies as far as Cana was aware, and no one seemed to dislike her. She was a genuinely happy person with a smile that could brighten anyone's day.

 

No one could kill her; she was Levy. Levy was... untouchable. Cana often felt guilty just pushing her playfully or nudging her, so anyone laying a hand on her with ill intentions made her brain hurt.

 

Perhaps it was an illness - no one would murder Levy.

 

"She had to have died of illness. There's no way someone could murder her. She was too happy of a person, and too kind; no one would dare lay a hand on her to send her six feet under."

 

"Would she have told you if she was sick?"

 

Cana thought about it, before bringing her hands up to her mouth nervously.

 

“Maybe she wouldn’t’ve. You don’t know her.”

 

“ _Cana_ ,” Gajeel said, pulling out the chair across from the shaking woman. “Do you not think that the whole affair is quite dubious? She _disappeared;_ she’s either dead, or being held somewhere. And if she has been held somewhere for over two years, I wouldn’t put it past someone to be dead, anyway.”

 

“Like someone was going to drop a piano on her,” Cana repeated a line she had spoken earlier. “She must’ve known what was coming. Perhaps it was a suicide.”

 

Gajeel didn’t have any retort to that suggestion.

 

“No, no, it couldn’t have been.” Cana resolved, mainly speaking to herself instead of Gajeel now. “She was… she was too happy. I’ve had depression, I know that it takes more than three days to feel suicidal. Levy wasn’t an artificial person. She was a bad liar. She couldn’t fake being happy; we’d have all caught on soon enough.”

 

Cana paused, a range of emotions on her face, from sadness to confusion to anger.

 

“I just - I don’t understand.” She admitted, leaning her head back. “It makes no sense.”

 

“I’m sorry to have bothered you with this, Lady Alberona-“

“But at the same time, makes too much sense. As a spiritual person, I can tell you that ghosts are definitely real. What you’ve told me makes sense, at least. It’s just hard to come to terms with the truth, I guess. I’m going to need more than a few bottles to process this one,” Cana joked lamely, picking her cards up as she stood.

 

“You can keep the candles. They’ll lighten up the place, hopefully. In scent and aesthetic.”

 

Cana left him, then, in the dim room with the lit candles, on her way to scull a few bottles of Port Red and maybe sit outside for a long while. Bacchus seemed to be over his mood, too, as the sound of smashing and banging stopped reverberating around the open hallway.

 

Gajeel fiddled with the three photos still in his lap, and cautiously eyed the remaining stack on the table.

 

<><><> 

 

The first night Gajeel had dreamt about Levy McGarden’s ghost was exactly a week after Cana attempted to give him a tarot reading.

 

It began quite simply.

 

There was a long, white wrought iron table and matching chairs, in the middle of a large garden filled all around with shrubbery and flower bushes. There were many different kinds of flowers; a hundred or so, at least. White stargazer lilies, striped carnations, oleanders, dark crimson roses and yellow zinnias were among the most prominent species of flower surrounding the area. A tea-set was set out on the table, and teacups and small plates were set out for three seats; the head of the table and the two seats beside it. Sitting in the end seat was the girl in the photos - Levy McGarden.

 

She looked on expectantly with amber eyes from beneath long, blue lashes. Her eyes darted between Gajeel and one of the seats next to her, as if she were encouraging him to sit.

 

He did, confusedly, and kept his eyes on her as she poured him a cup of tea. The only thing about this tea, however, was that it was not tea coming out of the spout. It was blood, thick and viscous as the oatmeal Juvia would prepare for him. He wondered what it would taste like.

 

“Are you dead?” He asked bluntly, watching her hands move steadily as she set out some sweets, such as biscuits and wrapped candies. She paused, eyes widening for a moment before turning to face him.

 

“Yes.” She replied simply, looking off nervously.

 

“Who killed you?” He tried, thinking that even if the dream weren’t real, some sort of closure would allow him to move onto and focus on other things. More important things. Such as employment and repaying his debts to one Lady Fullbuster.

 

She moved her mouth but no words came out.

 

“Well?” Gajeel demanded, studying her face as she lifted a teacup to her lips and drank the blood inside.

 

“I can’t tell you. It doesn’t work like that.”

 

He was frustrated and a little perturbed with her answer as she pulled the teacup away from her, her lips stained red as she let a stray droplet roll from the corner of her mouth to the bottom of her chin. Before it could go any further, she wiped at it with her wrist, smearing it on the back of her hand.

 

“It gets quite bothersome, having to do this all the time. I’d rather drink _real tea_ if it was an option.”

 

Gajeel, feeling a little uneasy at her nonchalance, decided to shoot straight and try to get as many answers as he could.

 

“Why do you have to drink blood?”

 

Levy paused again, her glassy amber eyes boring into his own.

 

“Would you like to see?”

 

He gulped and furrowed his brows, pushing his chair back a little as though she would attack him. The thought struck him as quite odd; she was a very small person. Usually, he would have had no qualms against whether he could defend himself or not, but this was a different situation. It even seemed like there was a demonic presence lingering in the air.

 

“Show me,”

 

Levy pulled at a wide yellow ribbon around her neck, and as it fluttered to the ground, Gajeel felt utterly queasy.

 

There was a large slit around the front of her neck, and what seemed to be a _lot_ of stab wounds. Blood still seeped slowly from the wound, and it was then that Gajeel also noticed that part of her neck even looked like it had been stabbed at with a needle or toothpick. Whoever orchestrated this – this _hack job_ – had to be someone new to the art of murder. For two years of being dead, the wound still looked fresh as a daisy. There was positively no way she could have survived, and it was enough to sway Gajeel.

 

Levy McGarden was definitely dead. Now all that was left was to find out who killed her, and why the residents of the apartment building refused to acknowledge her existence or lied about what had happened to her.

 

“For some reason, the afterlife thinks it appropriate to make me drink enough blood to make up for what I lost back in that filthy apartment.”

 

_Apartment? So she was definitely murdered in the complex, then. That explained the haunting and seeing ‘her’, at least._

 

“Unfortunately, this is a bottomless teacup. Sitting in the garden is pretty and all, but it can get quite tiresome after a while.”

 

Levy set the teacup on a matching saucer on the table and laced her hands together before sitting them comfortably in her lap.

 

“There’s something I need to ask of you, Gajeel Redfox.”

 

Something made Gajeel’s heart beat faster. Perhaps anxiety. Perhaps fear.

 

“In your living room, there is a loose floorboard approximately thirteen boards across from the connecting kitchen doorway, and seven floorboards up from that. There is a scratch on the upper left corner of the board, and it makes a creaking sound when you walk on it. Lift it off of the ground. Inside, here’s what you’ll find.”

 

<><><> 

 

Gajeel woke with a start, grasping at his bedsheets. He practically _threw_ his feet over the side of the bed and lit the lamp on his bedside table before standing and holding it out in front of him. The image of Levy’s slit throat was burnt into his mind, and the moment where she took the ribbon from around her neck played over and over again like a bad black-and-white movie.

 

He opened his bedroom door and entered the main room. Holding the candle out to reveal his surroundings, he checked a grandfather clock he had mounted on the wall. It was more or less two o’clock in the morning – Gajeel couldn’t properly read clocks, but he knew that whatever number it was on or around was usually good enough for him.

 

He walked quickly over to the kitchen doorway, facing the main room, and began to count the floorboards.

_1, 2, 3, 4…_

He walked over every one he counted.

 

_5, 6, 7, 8…_

He thought about what she told him was in the box.

 

_9, 10, 11, 12…_

Gajeel looked underneath him.

 

_13._

The burly man pivoted so he was facing the window side of his apartment. Then he began counting again.

 

_1, 2, 3, 4._

He took a nervous breath in.

 

_5, 6…_

He let out a shaky breath as a creaking noise filled the silent room.

 

_Lucky 7._

Gajeel moved his right foot over the board, just to make sure it was the right one. It was exactly as Levy had described it in his dream, and he got into a kneeling position, setting the lamp down beside him. He noticed a scratch in the upper left corner of the floorboard and took another deep breath in.

 

His heart was pounding. He was anxious. If his dream really had dead Levy communicating to him, then what she said was hidden in the floorboards would be. But what if it was all a figment of his imagination, just a tall tale his brain improvised using the materials from all the photos he’d seen earlier? Then again, there was no possible way for her directions and descriptions of what was underneath the wooden boards to be so specific, as Gajeel didn’t even know about it up until this point. He probably would have gone on not knowing had it not been for the dream.

 

Besides, he _had_ seen her ghost scratching away at the floor the first day he moved in, hadn’t he? All wild blue hair and yellow silk dresses and pale skin, as if trying to send him a message without verbally expressing so.

 

He put his fingers underneath the loose sides of the board and lifted it with his shaky hands, breathing shallowly.

 

It was in there.

 

He jumped back, covering his eyes in a mixture of surprise and shock. Gajeel supposed it was all real, then; he had to. To seal the deal, he had to look in the secret hiding place to make sure what she’d told him was all there. He had no trouble remembering what she confided in him, and he moved his hands away from his face as his heart sped up impossibly faster.

 

He moved the floorboard fully out of its slot and placed it gently off to the side, as to make no sound that might wake a neighbour.

 

Gajeel reached in and saw a folded piece of paper with ink stains on the parchment paper.

 

_She must have been wealthy, then, to afford such stationary. The parchment has to be the smoothest I’ve ever felt in my life._

He unfolded it and saw there was a letter written on the concealed side. The black-haired man read thoroughly through it, noting the language.

 

_Levy was literate. Almost too literate. She could’ve been a scribe. Or a translator._

After reading the note (which sent a chill down his back), Gajeel set it on top of the floorboard before rubbing at his eyes. Nerve-wracking as the situation was, it _was_ still the middle of the night. Everyone else in the building would be sleeping or plotting bloody murder against an innocent young woman. Either way, it was too late to be reading through a dead woman’s letters.

 

Gajeel picked out the bouquet of flowers first. The bouquet was heavily wilted, enough that the weight of the individual wilted flowers took away from the center and hung themselves forward. The stems and leaves were completely brown. In fact, the only thing not dead was the ribbon and twine holding the many flowers together. He set it next to the floorboard before yawning.

 

He lifted out a trinket box next. It didn’t seem to contain any clues, but it had a mesmerizing pattern painted on the top of the beautiful wooden box. It had been taken care of very well, and wasn’t too dusty on top of the lid. Inside were many necklaces, bracelets, bangles, earrings and jewels. He figured it rude to take anything to pawn, since it seemed she was keeping an eye on him from beyond the grave, so had a quick look and set in on top of the letter.

 

Next, he pulled out some books. There were four in total, and the pages had many corners folded over. The spines of the books were wearing thin, a sign that they had been read excessively, and the covers were faded. One of them seemed to be a thin children’s novella, while another was a thick murder mystery. Gajeel himself was never one for reading, and none of the books present seemed interesting to him, but it did strike him as odd that they were all mystery-centric books.

 

Finally, there were some photos. In her letter, Levy stated that the photographs were _in_ the trinket box, and not underneath it. _Ten points taken away for lying,_ he joked sourly in his head.

 

They weren’t too different from the photos Cana had left, except for a few formal shots and some photographs of people who must have been older relatives. There was one photograph, however, of Levy sitting among seven children, a middle-aged man and a middle-aged woman, and three elderly people. On the back of the photograph, in scribbled writing, _‘McGarden Family. From youngest to oldest, Jamie, Isabella, Flynn, Kathleen and Micall, Levy, Jonathan. Sio and Millie. Great Grandfather Joel, Grandmother Isa and Grandmother Levian.’_

Then, in far more legible writing, and the same writing from the letter before, _‘Children minus Levy deceased. Sio and Millie deceased. Grandmothers and Great Grandfather deceased as of 1884.’_

Her family had all died, then, before she did. The thought was slightly depressing; here she was, smiling with a big family, and they were all gone long before she was. He thought back to seven years prior, when his own parents had been taken by the plague, and wondered if it was the same thing for her.

 

Gajeel decided to check the backs of the other photographs for written captions, and was surprised to find that Levy had taken to writing a summary of the day’s events on the backs of each photo.

 

A photograph of Lucy, Levy and some pink-haired man had _‘Picnic by the Magnolia Lake. Natsu fell into the lake, Lucy and Gray had to pull him out. Elfman proposed to Evergreen in front of everyone, resulting in a slap but also a ‘yes’. Had to refuse another romantic request from Droy today. Erza made strawberry tarts, have to ask her for a recipe.’_. Lucy and Levy were looking off to something behind the camera, whilst Natsu seemed to be staring at Levy. It seemed as though a flower had flown into her hair during the exposure, and it looked like a heavy breeze was around.

 

There was a photo of Levy and Cana with masquerade masks on, Cana’s grip around Levy’s shoulders tight and they pulled a pose for the photo. ‘ _Annual Masquerade Ball tonight in the main ballroom – danced with a tall man who wanted to inquire about a business partnership. I told him I had no interest in working with a factory that used slaves, and he told me I was a trollop. Little did he know I had later put piquant spices in his wine. He had to leave early for tummy troubles. Allowed Cana to get me intoxicated – never again.’_

Gajeel snorted as he read over the messages and reminders of things that happened. There were so many photos of Levy with people from the family photo to photos of Levy with people from the apartment complex and even just photographs of inanimate objects and scenery, such as a stack of books by a window (He recognised that window; it was in his kitchen) and the same cobblestone street he had gone to lunch with Juvia on. It seemed to drag on for hours, as he absorbed all the information Levy had left for him, indulging in all the memories and embarrassing stories and even recipes she had left behind. He analysed the books she left behind, pondered why she chose to leave _hydrangeas_ behind and thought about if she had ever worn the jewelry inside the trinket box.

 

It was as though he was holding a piece of her lifetime in his hands, and he wondered if she had left anything else hidden.

 

Gajeel hadn’t even realised that the sun had risen until a fierce knock came at the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, this was fun to write!! the dream sequence was kind of a mess, but after listening to the crimson peak soundtrack today i was super inspired to write another chapter for this. crimson peak (i think i mentioned this before??) was my main influence when i came up with this story because GOSH it's such a good movie and i've been fascinated with it ever since it came out and the soundtrack is INCREDIBLE and if i had to recommend music to go along with reading this fic, it'd definitely be that sountrack. it helps me get in the mood of writing.
> 
> but boy, things sure are gettin spicy. i'm gonna start bringing in some suspects for you guys to weed out and to thicken the plot a little. it's been a little while since i published anything of actual substance on here, so i hope you all enjoy this chapter!!!

**Author's Note:**

> So here's a little something I've had on my mind for a while and I'm finally getting it onto paper (Wordpad...?) and I'm excited to get it written out and published!
> 
> I've never written a darker story before, but a majority of my AU ideas generally stem from that kind of tree. I'm hoping to get the first chapter started by the end of January (I've got a couple more works I need to work on first - prioritising Blossom is my main focus at the moment.)
> 
> The story is set in an 1800's-esque world with some modern aspects, such as cars and social morals. Hah. Yknow, the boring stuff. 
> 
> I guess this is a little teaser for now.


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